Seasonal variation of the essential oil from Casimiroa edulis using GC/MS and assessment of its antimicrobial potential

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the composition of the essential oils of Casimiroa edulis leaves over four-season cycles using GC-MS to investigate the effect of climate variation on the chemical composition and their activities. The oil yield from hydrodistillation varied between 0.02% and 0.1% v/w, with the highest yield observed in spring and the lowest in Summer. GC-MS identified a total of ninety-two components in the oil samples collected during the four seasons. In all samples, sesquiterpene hydrocarbons were predominating (29.94-59.95%). The antimicrobial screening showed that the essential oils were active against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Staphylococcus aureus (No. ATCC 4175) using the agar diffusion method. It was concluded that the best time for collecting the plant and obtaining the oil with higher yield and promising biological activities is during autumn and the oil can be used as a candidate for antimicrobial therapy.